BANCROFT 
LIBRARY 


THE  LIBRARY 

OF 

THE  UNIVERSITY 
OF  CALIFORNIA 


y W-  '//// 
/f. 


)S 

IN    WISCONSIN    AND    OHIO, 

GIVEN  AT  THE  MEETING  OF  THE  AMERICAN  ANTIQUABIAN  SOCIETY,  OCTOBER  22, 1883. 
Q_- Hj-»r    f~t    l    jKrjty^fTroOT  ^e  Proceedings  <?/  Me  Society ,  JVew  Series,  Vol.  III.,  No.  1.] 

Prof.  FREDERICK  W.  PUTNAM  gave  an  account  of  his^ 
recent  excursions  in  Wisconsin  and  Ohio.  His  paper, 
on  motion  of  Dr.  GREEN,  was  referred  to  the  committee 
of  publication,  but  as  the  author  wishes  to  make  further 
researches  in  both  regions  before  publishing  a  detailed 
account  of  the  ancient  earthworks  which  he  examined,  a 
brief  abstract  only  of  his  remarks  is  given  here. 

During  the  excursions  Mr.  PUTNAM  was  accompanied  by 
his  friend  and  pupil,  Mr.  John  Cone  Kimball,  who  took 
photographs  of  many  of  the  works.  Sketches  of  several 
were  also  made  and  were  shown  at  the  meeting. 

For  a  portion  of  the  time  in  Wisconsin  the  Rev.  Stephen 
D.  Peet,  of  Clinton,  Wisconsin,  was  of  the  party,  and  to 
his  knowledge  of  the  singular  earthworks  of  that  State 
Mr.  PUTNAM  expressed  his  indebtedness. 

It  is  well  known  that  the  earthworks  of  Wisconsin, 
between  Lake  Michigan  and  the  Mississippi  river,  are 
remarkable  from  the  fact  that  a  large  proportion  are  in  the 
forms  of  animals  and  men,  a  fact  which  is  of  great  ethnical 
importance  when  we  remember  that  such  effigy  mounds 
have  not  been  found  in  the  adjoining  regions.  The  only 
works  in  North  America  with  which  they  are  at  all  com 
parable  are  three  in  Ohio,  known  as  the  "serpent-mound," 
the  "alligator-mound,"  and  " Whittlesey's  effigy-mound," 
and  the  two  "bird-mounds"  in  Georgia. 

In  Wisconsin  the  effigies  of  animals  and  men  are  very 
numerous,  and  there  is  hardly  a  lake  or  a  river  from  Lake 
Michigan  to  the  Mississippi,  on  the  borders  of  which  they 
cannot  be  traced  in  large  or  small  groups.  They  are  made 


entirely  of  earth  and  stand  out  in  low  relief;  those  visited 
being  from  two  to  four  or  five  feet  high,  though  generally 
they  were  of  great  linear  extent. 

Many  of  these  groups  of  effigies  are  associated  with  long 
narrow  mounds  of  about  the  same  height,  and  in  nearly  all 
the  groups  which  he  examined,  conical  mounds,  varying 
from  four  to  twenty  feet  or  more  in  height,  were  found  in 
close  proximity  to  the  effigies.  These  conical  mounds  are, 
in  general,  believed  to  be  burial  mounds,  and  many  have 
been  proved  to  be  such,  while  the  effigy  mounds  and  the 
long  low  earthworks  associated  with  them  are  generally 
believed  not  to  contain  human  remains.  Mr.  PUTNAM. 
however,  thought  that  the  examinations  had  not  yet  been 
made  with  sufficient  care  and  thoroughness  as  to  enable 
correct  conclusions  to  be  drawn  in  relation  to  the  exact 
character  of  the  Wisconsin  mounds.  Many  of  the  groups 
have  been  surveyed,  and  others  have  been  sketched,  but  a< 
yet  only  very  unsatisfactory  explorations  have  been  made. 
Excavations  at  random  have  been  made  in  hundreds  of  the 
mounds,  -either  in  search  of  relics  or  from  mere  curiosity, 
but  the  results  of  such  unscientific  work  are  seldom 
recorded,  and  our  knowledge  of  the  contents  of  the  mounds 
has  not  been  thereby  increased. 

What  should  be  done  before  conclusions  of  importance 
can  be  drawn,  is  to  make  careful  and  thorough  explorations 
of  several  of  the  groups.  Not  only  should  the  effigy  and 
other  low  mounds  of  a  group  be  thoroughly  explored  by 
cutting  trenches  their  whole  length  and  width,  and  digging 
at  least  two  feet*  below  the  surface  on  which  the  mound 
rests,  but  the  land  between  and  about  the  mounds  should 
be  trenched  and  carefully  examined  in  order  to  see  if  there 
be  any  signs  of  a  former  village  site  or  of  a  burial  place. 
Of  course  the  associated  conical  mounds  should  also  be 
systematically  examined,  by  a  series  of  trenches  through 
each  mound,  and  not  simply  by  sinking  a  shaft  in  its  centre. 
This  latter  method  :i>  it  is  pursued  by  the  relic  hunter, 


who,  caring  only  for  the  relics  he  may  find,  wishes  to 
obtain  them  with  the  least  possible  amount  of  labor,  is 
vandalism,  not  exploration. 

When  several  such  thorough  explorations  shall  have  been 
made  by  competent  men  under  the  auspices  of  the  State  or 
of  some  well  established  institution,  so  that  the  results  will 
be  secured  to  science  by  publication,  we  shall  be  able  to 
draw  conclusions  of  importance.  The  author,  however, 
did  not  intend  to  imply  that  a  study  and  survey  of  the 
groups  themselves  was  not  of  importance.  That  should 
precede  exploration  in  every  case,  but  the  true  character 
of  the  earthworks  would  never  be  understood  until  such  a 
series  of  careful  investigations  had  been  made.  From  the 
absence  of  such  explorations  Mr.  PUTNAM  expressed  himself 
unable  to  answer  many  of  the  questions  asked  by  members 
of  the  Society,  but  he  admitted  that  the  examinations  he 
had  made  of  a  few  of  the  groups  gave  some  indications 
that  the  effigy  mounds  marked  burial  places,  although  he 
did  not  at  all  feel  sure  that  such  would  prove  to  be  the 
object  for  which  they  were  erected.  The  fact  that  in  one 
large  group  containing  several  effigy  mounds  there  were  a 
large  number  of  conical  mounds,  in  nearly  all  of  which 
human  skeletons  had  been  found,  was  the  best  evidence  he 
could  offer  in  support  of  this  view. 

Many  of  the  effigy  mounds,  rudely  but  characteristically 
represent  the  animals  formerly  abundant  in  the  country, 
as  the  bear  and  panther,  and  also  birds  and  men.  A 
form  usually  called  "turtle-mounds"  maybe  intended  to 
represent  the  stretched  skin  of  a  deer  or  a  buffalo  as  it 
would  appear  when  pegged  out  on  the  ground  for  scraping, 
as  done  by  the  Indians.  A  drawing  was  shown  of  such  a 
mound  in  the  group  explored  by  the  author  in  the  city 
park  at  LaCrosse. 

In  the  centre  of  this  mound  remains  of  a  human  skeleton 
were  found  and  with  it  were  fragments  of  a  pottery  vessel, 
&  chipped  stone  implement  and  several  flint  flakes.  This 


mound  was  only  slightly  over  two  feet  in  height,  but  it 
had  been  evidently  reduced  by  long-continued  trampling 
of  beasts,  and  men,  and  it  may  have  been  dug  into  in 
the  past,  as  only  a  portion  of  the  bones  of  the  skeleton 
were  found,  although  the  mound  was  thoroughly  examined. 
Three  small  conical  mounds  are  near  this  effigy  mound,  but 
they  had  been  previously  disturbed,  holes  having  been  dug 
on  their  summits,  and  it  was  understood  that  human  bones 
had  been  found.  In  the  largest  of  the  three  the  author 
found,  near  the  surface,  a  few  potsherds  and  fragments  of 
human  bones.  In  this  case  the  burial  had  been  made  on 
the  summit  of  the  mound  and  was  of  the  class  called 
"intrusive,"  that  is,  it  had  no  connection  with  the  object 
for  which  the  mound  was  raised,  the  mound  simply  having 
been  used  as  a  convenient  place  for  the  burial  of  an  Indian 
in  recent  times. 

In  the  smallest  of  the  three  conical  mounds  a  fragment 
of  a  human  bone  was  found,  which  probably  belonged  to 
a  skeleton  removed  by  some  former  digger.  Near  the 
bottom  of  this  mound  several  bones  of  domestic  animals 
were  found,  and  at  first  they  were  supposed  to  prove  that 
the  mound  had  been  erected  since  the  occupation  of  the 
country  by  the  whites  ;  farther  examination,  however,  soon 
showed  that  a  fox  or  some  other  carnivorous  animal  had 
made  its  burrow  in  the  mound  and  had  brought  in  leaves 
and  grass,  as  well  as  several  animal  bones,  including  those 
of  the  sheep,  ox  and  pig.  Had  this  mound  remained 
unexplored  for  a  considerable  time  longer,  until  the  vegeta 
ble  matter  had  decayed  and  the  earth  become  compact  in 
the  centre  of  the  burrow,  as  it  already  had  for  most  of  its 
length,  these  animal  bones  would  have  been  taken  as  a  sure 
sign  that  the  mound  was  of  recent  origin.1 

Two  extensive  groups  were  traced  on  either  side  of  the 

JIt  was  a  great  satisfaction  to  the  author  to  find  that  the  city  authorities  of 
La  Crosse  were  willing  to  re-sod  and  preserve  this  group  of  mounds,  hence 
great  care  was  taken  to  preserve  their  outlines  during  the  exploration  and  to 
carefully  fill  the  trenches  when  the  work  was  done. 


Baraboo  river.  The  one  on  the  south  side  of  the  river 
contains  the  only  human  effigy  met  with,  although  several 
have  been  recorded.  In  this  case  the  form  of  a  man, 
extended  at  full  length  on  his  back,  was  well  defined  to  the 
knees.  The  portion  below  them  had  been  destroyed  by 
ploughing.  From  the  top  of  the  head  to  the  knees  the 
length  is  eighty-three  feet,  across  the  hips  the  width  is 
twenty-three  and  one-half  feet,  and  from  shoulder  to 
shoulder  thirty-seven  feet.  The  neck  is  ten  feet  wide. 
The  head  is  seventeen  feet  wide  and  ten  feet  long  on  a 
line  from  the  side  of  the  neck  to  a  point  opposite.  The 
arms  are  slightly  curved  and  about  thirty-five  feet  in 
length  measured  from  the  arm-pit.  They  terminate  just 
below  the  projecting  portion  representing  the  hips. 

This  "man-mound"  is  at  the  foot  of  a  hill.  The  head  is 
to  the  north,  up  the  hill,  and  directly  north  of  it  there  is 
a  line  of  several  conical  mounds  extending  over  the  hill. 

On  the  opposite  side  of  the  river  there  is  a  still  larger 
group  comprising  nearly  thirty  conical  mounds,  two  long 
mounds,  three  "bird-mounds"  and  a  "bear-mound,"  besides 
one  or  two  others  the  form  of  which  cannot  now  be  made 
out. 

Several  other  groups  were  visited  in  the  vicinity  of 
Baraboo,  and  one,  in  which  there  were  three  large  bird- 
mounds,  was  seen  on  the  Wisconsin  river,  near  the  Lower 
Dells.  Several  groups  were  also  visited  at  Madison,  one 
of  .which  is  on  the  Observatory  grounds.  A  group  over 
the  stone  quarry  was  carefully  examined  and  of  this  a 
survey  has  since  been  made  under  the  direction  of  Prof. 
Holden,  for  the  Peabody  Museum.  This  group  contains 
among  other  forms  a  "panther-mound"  two  hundred  and 
thirty  feet  long;  a  "bird-mound"  seventy-one  feet  long, 
with  wings  nearly  eighty  feet  in  extent  stretched  at  right 
angles  from  the  body;  a  "bear-mound,"  about  eighty  feet 
in  length  from  head  to  tail,  is  a  good  representation  of  the 
animal  seen  in  profile. 


6 

To  one  inclined  to  the  theory  of  the  south-western  origin 
of  the  mound-building  nations  on  this  continent,  Mr. 
PUTNAM  thought  the  study  of  the  effigy  mounds  of  Wiscon 
sin  in  connection  with  their  descent  from  a  higher  type  of 
work,  would  prove  as  interesting  as  the  supposed  deca 
dence  of  architecture  towards  the  east  and  north.  It  was, 
he  said,  of  interest  to  note,  whatever  the  true  meaning  of 
the  facts  may  be,  that  while  the  animal  and  human  forms 
are  represented  in  Wisconsin  by  low  mounds  made  by 
scraping  up  the  earth  about  the  spot,  in  Ohio  the  three 
effigy  mounds  are  made  of  clay  placed  over  a  foundation 
of  stones,  and  that  the  two  bird-mounds  in  Georgia  were 
made  entirely  of  stones  which  were  selected  with  more  or 
less  care.  Next  to  these  stone-built  effigies  of  Georgia  we 
must  consider  the  "pumas"  cut  from  stone,  mentioned  by 
Bandelier  as  found  on  a  hill  in  New  Mexico,  which  are 
connected  with  the  ceremonies  of  the  Pueblo  Indians. 
With  these  the  comparison  can  be  made  with  the  animal 
and  human  forms,  both  of  small  and  large  size,  cut  in 
stone,  and  found  in  portions  of  Mexico,  and  from  these 
the  transition  is  easy  to  the  combination  of  similar  forms 
with  the  architectural  ornaments  of  the  large  buildings  of 
Yucatan,  where  pumas,  serpents,  birds  and  human  forms, 
both  simple  and  in  combinations  of  many  kinds,  abound. 

It  would  also  be  of  further  interest  in  this  connection  to 
trace  the  pictographs,  the  potter's  art,  and  the  carvings  in 
stone,  bone,  shell  and  wood,  found  in  various  parts  of 
North  America,  representing  both  animals  and  man. 

Such  a  survey  of  these  arts  would  show  many  points  of 
similarity  between  widely  separated  portions  of  the  country 
and  would  help  either  to  confirm,  or  disprove,  the  conclu 
sions  which  have  been  drawn  MS  to  the  supposed  close 
connection  of  all  the  American  nations. 

The  excursion  in  Ohio  took  place  in  September.  After 
an  examination  of  several  places  in  the  Little  Miami 
Valley,  where  explorations  were  being  carried  on  for  the 


Peabody  Museum,  under  the  personal  supervision  of  Dr. 
Metz,  during  which  Mr.  Kimball  took  several  photo 
graphs  of  mounds,  a  party  consisting  of  Dr.  C.  L.  Metz, 
Mr.  C.  F.  Low,  Judge  Cox,  Mr.  Kimball  and  the  speaker 
took  the  cars  to  Hillsboro.  At  this  place  a  large  mule 
wagon  was  secured  and  the  trip  made  to  Brush  Creek,  on 
which  stream  and  its  east  branch  are  found  the  famous 
Serpent  Mound  and  the  ancient  fortification  known  as  Fort 
Hill.  Thence  to  Bainbridge  and  down  the  Paint  Creek 
valley  to  Chillicothe,  on  the  Scioto.  From  this  city  excur 
sions  were  made  to  the  Hopeton,  High  Bank  and  other 
earthworks  and  mounds  in  the  vicinity.  It  will  be  seen 
that  the  route  was  through  a  portion  of  Ohio  containing 
some  of  the  most  noted  earthworks  described  by  Atwater 
and  published  in  the  first  volume  of  the  Transactions  of 
this  Society  in  1820,  also  many  of  the  works  which  about 
a  quarter  of  a  century  afterwards  received  the  attention  of 
Squier  and  Davis  and  have  been  illustrated  in  the  impor 
tant  volume  published  by  the  Smithsonian  Institution  in 
1848. 

The  first  point  visited  was  the  ancient  work  designated 
by  Squier  and  Davis  as  the  "Great  Serpent."  This  is  on 
the  land  of  Mr.  .John  J.  Lovett,  Bratton  Township  in 
Adams  county.  The  singular  structure  is  on  a  high  ridge 
of  land,  along  the  western  side  of  which  the  east  fork  of 
Brush  Creek  flows  to  the  southward.  This  ridge  ends  at 
the  north  in  a  narrow  precipitous  ledge  about  eighty  feet 
high.  On  the  eastern  side,  except  at  its  northern  portion, 
the  ridge  is  not  as  precipitous  as  on  the  western,  and 
towards  the  southeast  it  rounds  off  to  the  cultivated  fields. 
The  ridge  has  several  deep  gullies  on  the  western  side  and 
one  or  two  on  the  eastern.  It  curves  somewhat  to  the 
southwest,  and  there  is  a  considerable  depression  in  the 
central  portion. 

The  outer  edge  of  the  oval  figure  in  front  of  the  « '  mouth 
of  the  serpent,"  is  eighty-five  feet  from  the  edge  of  the 


precipice  forming  the  northern  boundary  of  the  ridge. 
This  figure  is  made  by  a  low  embankment,  now  about  two 
to  three  feet  high  and  from  sixteen  to  eighteen  feet  wide, 
enclosing  an  oval  space  eighty-six  feet  in  length  and  about 
thirty  feet  in  width  at  the  widest  part  of  the  figure  towards 
its  southern  end.  Just  north  of  the  centre  of  this  oval 
figure  there  are  the  remains  of  a  small  pile  of  stones,  which 
Squier  and  Davis  mention  as  having  been  thrown  down 
when  they  surveyed  the  work  in  1846.  The  ridge  was 
cleared  of  its  forest  many  years  ago  and  for  a  time  was 
ploughed  and  cultivated,  so  that  the  height  of  the  earth 
work  has  been  considerably  reduced.  It  is  probable  that 
it  was  never  much  over  four  feet  high  in  any  part,  which  is 
the  height  stated  by  Mr.  Lovett's  father  who  remembers 
it  before  it  was  ploughed  over. 

Between  the  oval  figure  and  the  edge  of  the  ledge  there 
is  a  slightly  raised  circular  ridge  of  earth,  from  either  side 
of  which  a  curved  ridge  extends  towards  the  sides  of  the 
oval  figure.  This  is  not  noticed  by  Squier  and  Davis  and 
it  may  %have  been  formed  by  sheep  or  cattle  approaching 
the  edge  of  the  cliff  around  the  oval  figure,  but  its  symme 
try  and  position  in  relation  to  the  oval  figure  makes  it 
necessary  to  call  attention  to  it. 

A  curved  embankment,  about  two  feet  high  and  eighteen 
feet  wide  in  its  central  portion,  following  the  outline  of 
the  southern  end  of  the.  oval,  but  seventeen  feet  from  it, 
measuring  eighty-four  feet  from  east  to  west,  forms  the 
6 'mouth  of  the  serpent."  From  each  end  of  this  curved 
portion  an  embankment  fourteen  feet  wide  extends  south 
ward  about  ninety  feet,  uniting  and  forming  one  forty  feet 
wide,  which  makes  the  "neck  of  the  serpent."  On  each 
side  of  the  "head"  thus  formed,  and  near  the  centre,  there 
is  a  projecting  portion  of  the  embankment  which  curve- 
outward  and  downward  for  about  thirty  feet  in  length. 
In  the  figure  given  by  Squier  and  Davis  these  projections 
are  represented  as  at  right  :m<rlc>  to  the  embankment  and 


9 

as  if  projecting  from  me  "neck.'  in  this  and  in  a  few 
other  details  the  figure  mentioned  does  not  agree  with 
the  diagram  exhibited,  and  the  several  discrepancies  were 
noticed  by  all  the  party.  From  the  wide  portion  forming 
the  ''neck"  the  embankment  gradually  narrows  to  about 
fifteen  feet  and  curves  to  the  eastward.  Then  it  makes  a 
sharp  curve  to  the  southwest  and  south.  The  second  curve 
is  a  sharp  one  to  the  eastward ;  thence  the  embankment 
extends  southward  and  curves  to  the  west,  then  south 
down  the  depression  which  divides  the  northern  from  the 
southern  portion  of  the  ridge,  and,  again,  in  a  long  stretch 
to  the  southeast,  then  south,  making  a  shorter  curve  to 
the  west,  then  extending  up  the  slight  declivity  of  the 
depression  to  the  southeast,  thence  it  sweeps  to  the  west 
ward  and  again  turns  slightly  to  the  eastward,  from  which 
point  the  triple  coil  of  the  "tail"  begins.  At  the  end 
of  the  ' '  tail "  the  width  of  the  embankment  is  not  over  five 
feet,  and  its  height  is  about  one  foot.  The  total  length  of 
the  "  serpent "  following  all  the  curves,  and  starting  from 
the  extreme  point  of  the  curved  part  forming  the  i  t  mouth " 
is  thirteen  hundred  and  thirty-five  feet.  Measured  from  the 
northern  end  of  the  oval  figure,  on  a  line  drawn  through 
the  centre  of  the  "head"  and  following  the  curves  from 
this  point  to  the  end  of  the  "tail  of  the  serpent,"  the  total 
length  of  the  work  is  fourteen  hundred  and  fifteen  feet. 

In  respect  to  its  structure  this  work  differs  from  the 
effigy  mounds  of  Wisconsin  in  having  its  base  formed  in 
great  part  of  small  stones  upon  which  the  earth  was  placed. 
That  the  work  was  intended  in  a  general  way  to  represent 
a  serpent,  or  snake,  the  speaker  thought  could  not  be 
doubted,  and  also  that  the  oval  figure  in  front  of  it  was  part 
of  the  general  design  ;  but  that  the  oval  figure  was  intended 
to  represent  an  egg  either  about  to  be  swallowed  by  the 
serpent,  or  ejected  by  it,  he  thought  might  be  questioned. 
The  serpent  has  always  played  an  important  part  in  the 
mythology  of  the  new  as  well  as  in  that  of  the  old  world ; 


10 

but  in  instituting  a  comparison  between  the  two  the  speaker 
said  we  must  not  go  too  fast  or  too  far.  On  the  ancient 
pottery  of  Peru  and  on  the  burial  jars  from  Pacoval,  Bra/il, 
the  serpent  is  represented  in  various  ways.  On  some 
vessels  it  is  painted  in  color,  on  others  it  is  moulded  or 
carved  in  relief.  Among  the  gold  ornaments  found  in 
ancient  graves  all  the  way  from  Peru  to  the  Isthmus,  the 
serpent  is  often  found.  On  a  large  number  of  the  ancient 
burial  jars  of  Nicaragua,  now  in  the  Peabody  Museum  at 
Cambridge,  it  is  represented  either  in  a  realistic  or  conven 
tional  manner,  and  in  this  connection  has,  presumably,  a 
mythological  or  symbolical  meaning.  In  Yucatan  it  appears 
carved  in  stone  on  the  front  of  one  of  the  large  ruined 

o 

buildings.  Farther  north  in  Mexico  it  is  common  among 
the  Terra-cotta  figures  and  pictographs.  On  the  pottery 
from  the  mounds  in  Missouri  it  is  known  as  an  ornament 
on  at  least  two  specimens  which  are  figured  in  the  Transac 
tions  of  the  St.  Louis  Academy  of  Science.  In  Tennessee, 
particularly  in  the  mounds  in  the  eastern  portion,  it  appears 
on  the  carved  shells,  as  shown  by  the  numerous  specimens 
in  the  Cambridge  Museum,  and  in  that  Museum  there  is 
also  a  carving  on  a  piece  of  antler,  recently  found  by 
Dr.  Metz  in  a  mound  in  the  Little  Miami  Valley,  which 
represents  the  rattlesnake  in  a  conventionalized  manner. 
These  were  some  of  the  prominent  instances,  but  with 
them  should  be  remembered  the  serpent  gens  of  several 
Indian  tribes,  and  the  myths  and  stories  in  which  the 
serpent  often  has  a  prominent  part.  Bearing  these  facts 
in  mind,  the  speaker  said  it  was  not  at  all  surprising  to 
find  the  serpent  of  iriiiantic  size  represented  back  of  the 
imposing  precipice  in  the  beautiful  valley  of  Brush  Creek, 
and  he  thought  it  might  be  regarded  either  as  a  symbol,  a 
monument  to  mark  a  sacred  place,  or  possibly  as  a  place 
of  worship. 

About  two  hundred  feet  to  the  southeast  of  the  serpent- 
mound,   the  earth    in  the    ploughed   field,   for  an  acre  or 


11 

more,  is  darker  than  the  surrounding  soil,  and  contains 
many  fragments  of  pottery,  flint  chips,  arrowheads,  ham 
mer-stones,  and  other  stone  implements,  which  were  in 
vain  sought  for  in  the  light  colored  soil  adjoining.  This 
would  indicate  either  a  village  site  or  an  ancient  burial 
place,  but  the  long-continued  cultivation  of  the  spot  pre 
cludes  any  definite  conclusions  until  an  extended  explora 
tion  of  the  region  is  made. 

Further  to  the  southeast^  or  about  five  hundred  feet 
from  the  ''tail  of  the  serpent,"  there  is  a  conical  mound 
which  has  never  been  excavated.  It  is  now  about  fifteen 
feet  high  and  sixty  in  diameter,  but  it  has  been  ploughed 
over  for  many  years  and  is  consequently  considerably 
lower  than  when  first  known  to  the  Lovett  family  whose 
house  is  near  by. 

"Fort  Hill"  in  Highland  county  was  the  next  place 
visited  and  was  found  to  be  in  every  way  the  remarkable 
fortification  described  by  Squier  and  Davis.  The  immense 
stone  wall,  built  on  the  very  edge  of  the  hill  and  even 
extending  down  its  steep  sides,  the  ditch  inside  the  wall, 
from  which  the  stones  were  taken,  and  the  almost  inaccessi 
ble  level  area  of  nearly  fifty  acres  covered  with  a  forest 
growth  of  great  age,  all  tend  to  render  this  one  of  the 
most  remarkable  of  the  ancient  works  of  the  country,  and 
probably  no  other  work  in  the  United  States  has  the 
impress  of  antiquity  so  strongly  stamped  upon  it  as  this. 
The  growth  of  vegetation  has  almost  incorporated  the 
artificial  wall,  twenty  to  thirty  feet  or  more  in  width  and 
from  eight  to  fifteen  feet  in  height,  with  the  natural  hill 
side,  and  immense  trees  have  grown  and  decayed  on  the 
very  summit  of  the  wall.  One  decayed  oak  stump  on  the 
wall  still  measures  over  nine  feet  by  seven  in  its  two 
diameters,1  and  there  are  several  others  of  six  and  seven 

i  This  is  probably  the  decayed  stump  recorded  by  Squier  and  Davis  thirty- 
seven  years  ago  as  twentjr-three  feet  in  circumference.  The  diameters  given 
above  were  taken  across  the  top  of  the  stump  which  is  still  nearly  three  feet 
high. 


12 

feet  in  diameter.  The  accurate  description  and  plan  <riv*-n 
by  Squier  and  Davis  render  a  detailed  account  of  this  work 
unnecessary,  the  speaker  said,  but  he  thought  that  it 
should  be  visited  by  every  one  inclined  to  doubt  the 
antiquity  of  the  gre^t  works  of  the  State  of  Ohio.  The 
much  larger  and  in  some  respects  more  scientific  structure 
known  as  Fort  Ancient,  although  probably  as  old,  did  not 
make  such  an  impression  upon  him  as  did  this  old  Fort  on 
the  isolated  hill,  rising  some 'five  hundred  feet  above  the 
bottom  lands  of  Brush  Creek. 

On  the  drive  down  Paint  Creek  the  several  earthworks 
described  by  Atwater  were  visited,  but  they  were  found  to 
be  nearly  obliterated,  and  walls  once  eight  or  ten  feet  high 
are  now  barely  traceable.  This  rapid  yielding  to  the 
levelling  hand  of  man  is  due  to  the  fact  that  the  earth  of 
which  they  were  composed  was  principally  of  surface  soil 
and  could  be  easily  levelled  or  greatly  reduced  by  the 
plough.  The  large  tumulus  near  the  earthwork  marked  A 
on  Atwater's  map  is  probably  but  little  changed  since  his 
time,  and  fine  photographs  were  taken  of  it.  The  stone 
fort  on  the  hill  near  Bainbridge  is  said  to  be  nearly 
destroyed  and  was  not  visited. 

During  the  drive  down  the  valley  from  Bainbridge  to 
Chillicothe,  eighteen  mounds,  all  of  considerable  size,  were 
seen  from  the  wagon.  At  Chillicothe  the  party  were 
joined  by  Mr.  Albert  Douglas,  jr.,  and  Dr.  B.  F.  Miesse, 
with  whom  several  excursions  were  made  to  ancient  works 
in  the  vicinity. 

About  four  miles  to  the  northwest  of  the  city,  near  the 
fair  grounds,  there  is  a  large  conical  mound  nearly  thirty 
feet  high,  from  the  top  of  which  can  be  seen  three  other 
large  mounds,  all  of  whirl)  arc  eonspiciimi-  objects  in  the 
valley,  as  is  shown  by  the  photographs  taken. 

The  Hopeton  Works  and  the  adjoining  group,  designated 
a>  Cedar  Bank  Works  by  Squior  and  Davis,  were  found  to 
be  the  best  preserved  and  in  several  ivspeets  the  ino-t 


13 

interesting  of  the  large  earthworks  in  the  Scioto  valley. 
The  description  and  figures  given  of  these  groups  by 
Squier  and  Davis  leave  little  to  be  said.  Of  course  the 
constant  cultivation  of  the  land  has  greatly  reduced  the 
embankment  of  the  large  circle,  which  was  probably  never 
more  than  five  feet  in  height,  but  it,  as  well  as  the  two 
small  circles  on  the  east  side  of  the  square,  can  still  be 
traced.  The  eleven  higher  and  harder  clay  walls  forming 
the  square  have  proved  a  greater  obstacle  to  the  plough 
and  portions  of  them  are  probably  now  of  about  their 
original  height,  or  nearly  twelve  feet.  In  fact  these  clay 
walls  are  so  hard  and  compact  that  their  cultivation  is  too 
difficult  a  matter  to  be  undertaken  without  going  to  great 
labor  and  expense,  as  was  stated  by  Squire  J.  Smith  who 
has  given  much  attention  to  their  structure.  To  Squire 
Smith  the  party  were  under  great  obligations  for  his 
guidance  over  the  works  and  to  the  group  a  mile  above. 
He  has  also  kindly  promised  to  send  to  the  Peabody 
Museum  a  survey  of  the  two  groups,  with  accurate 
measurements  of  the  walls.  Many  stone  implements  and 
flint  chips  have  been  found  in  and  about  the  enclosures, 
several  of  which  were  given  to  the  speaker,  and  others 
were  found  by  the  party. 

The  earthworks  at  High  Bank,  about  five  miles  below 
Chillicothe,  on  the  Scioto  river,  were  visited,  and  it  was 
found  that  great  changes  had  taken  place  since  they  were 
surveyed  by  Squier  and  Davis  in  1846.  All  the  smaller 
works  adjoining  the  large  circle  and  octagon  have  nearly 
disappeared,  and  the  wall  of  the  large  circle  is  nearly 
obliterated.  Even  the  seven1  embankments  forming  the 
octagon  have  been  reduced  and  spread  by  successive 
ploughings  and  cultivation,  so  that  they  are  now  not  over 
four  to  six  feet  high,  and  are  ab.out  sixty  feet  wide  on  top. 
They  seem  to  have  been  made  of  the  subsoil  of  the  region, 

iThe  wall  on  one  side  is  so  built  as  to  correspond  with  the  two  on  the 
opposite  side. 


14 

but  are  not  so  hard  and  compact  as  the  embankments  at 
Hopeton.  Mr.  Milton  Jones,  on  whose  land  a  portion  of 
the  work  is  situated,  informed  the  speaker  that  a  number 
of  human  bones  had  been  ploughed  up  in  the  large  circle, 
and  that  numerous  stone  implements  had  been  found  within 
the  works;  and  he  kindly  gave  the  Peabody  Museum  t\\<> 
polished  celts  obtained  during  the  present  year.  He  also 
stated  that  whenever  the  walls  of  the  octagon  had  been 
ploughed  over  his  attention  had  not  been  attracted  by  any 
particular  objects  in  the  clay. 

In  relation  to  Mr.  Morgan's  theory  that  these  high  walls 
were  erected  for  the  purpose  of  building  the  dwelling 
places  of  the  people  upon  them,  the  speaker  stated  that  he 
thought  the  general  character  of  works  of  this  class  was 
against  the  theory.  There  are  many  such  in  Ohio  in  which 
the  circle  is  combined  with  a  square  or  an  octagon,  and 
they  are  all  so  nearly  alike  and  have  so  many  accessories  in 
common  that  it  is  probable  they  were  made  by  one  great 
people  for  the  same  purpose.1 

While  such  houses  as  Mr.  Morgan  has  suggested  could 
have  been  erected  on  some  of  the  earthworks,  on  others  of 
a  similar  character  except  in  the  size  of  the  walls,  it  would 
have  been  useless  if  not  impossible  to  have  built  the  houses 


!The  following  giv»;s  the  size  of  a  few  of  the  earthworks  to  be  considered  in 
this  connection  with  the  heights  of  their  walls :  — 

High  Bank  Works.  The  octagon  contains  twenty  acres.  Its  walls  were 
twelve  feet  high.  The  circle  contains  eighteen  acres.  Its  walls  were  five  feet 
high. 

Hopeton  Works.  Square  twenty  acres;  walls  twelve  feet;  circle  twenty 
acres ;  walls  five  feet. 

Newark  Works.  Octagon  fifty  acres;  walls  five  to  six  feet;  circle  twenty 
acres;  walls  twelve  feet  high  in  one  portion,  rest  six  feet.  Square  tw«-nt\ 
acre- :  wulls  I'm-  to  six  feet. 

Liberty  Works.  Square  twenty-seven  acres ;  walls  four  feet.  Large  circle 
forty  acres ;  walls  three  feet. 

Marietta  Works.  Large  square  fifty  acres;  walls  five  to  six  feet.  Small 
square  twenty-seven  acres  and  walls  of  less  height  than  other.  The  elev;»t<  .1 
platforms  of  earth  inside  and  near  the  walls  of  these  squares  are  two  to  three 
feet  higher  than  the  walls. 

Portsmouth  Works.  The  eastern  wall  of  the  square  is  ten  feet  and  the 
\\ «  >tcrn,  part  of  which  is  nut u nil,  is  forty  feet  high. 


15 

so  as  to  form  a  means  of  defense,  as  he  has  suggested.  It 
seems  far  more  probable,  if  such  works  were  defensive 
villages,  that  the  high  walls -were  simply  a  substitute  for 
lower  walls  which  had  palisades  on  their  summits.  In 
such  walled  towns  as  have  been  protected  from  cultivation 
unquestionable  sites  of  the  houses  of  the  people  have  been 
found  within  the  walls  or  embankments,  as  in  Tennessee 
and  Missouri,  and  in  these  cases  there  can  be  but  little 
doubt  that  the  low  embankments  were  surmounted  by 
palisades. 

Within  the  Ohio  squares  and  octagons,  a  large  quantity 
of  refuse  material  and  many  implements  and  ornaments 
have  been  found,  such  as  would  be  expected  in  and  around 
the  houses  of  the  people,  while  nothing  of  the  kind,  not 
even  the  ashes  and  charcoal  of  fires,  had  been  traced  on 
the  top  or  sides  of  the  high  embankments.  In  answer 
to  this  it  might  be  said  that  all  signs  of  the  houses,  fires 
and  refuse  from  the  dwellings  would  have  been  washed 
from  the  tops  and  sides  of  the  walls  in  the  long  period  of 
time  which  has  elapsed  since  they  were  destroyed.  The 
speaker  would  say  in  response  that  this  refuse  material 
would  be  somewhere,  it  could  not  all  decay,  and  he  knew 
from  long  experience  in  making  explorations  that  it  was 
always  found  on  the  immediate  site  of  the  house  or  in 
a  refuse  pile  near  by.  The  speaker  claimed  that  we  had 
no  right  to  theorize  about  wThat  might  be  done,  but  by 
careful  examination  with  spade  and  pick  we  should 
endeavor  to  find  out  what  had  been  done,  and  this  not  in 
one  place  but  in  many,  as  it  svas  by  the  accumulation  of  a 
hundred  little  facts  found  under  similar  conditions  that  we 
are  led  to  the  proper  determination  of  the  whole.  As  to 
the  supposed  wash  of  the  walls  and  their  spreading  from 
that  cause,  the  speaker  stated  that  there  was  much  miscon 
ception  in  that  connection.  Of  course  grass  and  other 
vegetation  would  soon  begin  to  grow  on  an  embankment 
a-nd  if  the  embankment  was  made  smooth  and  compact  and 


16 

3  cared   tor.   a>  these  ancient    embankments  must    h 
!.  the  wash  and   spreading  of  the   walls    would    he    \ 
>li<:ht  indeed,  and  the  greater  part  would  take  place  du 
the    tir>t  years  of  their  uch  a  pi 

to  nature  the  vegetable  growth  would  at  once  encroach 
upon  it  and  protect  it  from  the  clement-.  In  tact,  he 
felt  convinced,  from  many  examinations  of  the  ancient 
mounds  of  earth,  that  of  all  the  monuments  erected  by  man 
none  were  so  enduring:  but  as  <oon  a-  man  started  their 
destruction  by  removing  the  vegetation  and  exposing  the 
unjirotected  soil  to  the  winds  and  rains,  disintegration 
beiran  and  would  continue  until  vegetation  a^ain  >pread 
its  protecting  arms  over  the  spot. 

The  speaker  also  thought  that  we  must  take  other  things 
into  consideration  in  relation  to  Mr.  Morgan's  theory  that 
the  people  Avho  built  these  earthworks  in  the  Ohio  valley 
were  closely  connected  with  the  pueblo  people  wot  of  the 
Rio  (frande.  that  they  were,  in  fact,  an  otl'shoot  from  th 
and  hence  the  peculiar  method  of  architect  in 

In  this  connection    it  was  only  ncee»ary  to  call   attention 
everal   of  the  arts  of  the  people  of  the  two  regions  to 
show   that   they  had   nothing  in  common   either  in  ceramic 
lecorative  art  :    and   from   the   little   we   know   of   their 
osteo logical   remains  it  could   only  be  said  that  there   WJ 
•  •ral    rex-mblance    in   their   physical    character-    >ud 
would    probably    prove    to    be     common    to    all    the    -Teat 
Mongolian  stock  to  which  both  })robably  beloni:e<l. 


